Gila Monster by Colin Bainbridge

Author:Colin Bainbridge [Bainbridge, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Vin Goad had plenty to think about. His men had come back from town with the information that the new marshal of Medicine Bend was indeed his old adversary, Wade Calvin. That was one thing. For years he had nursed the desire for vengeance and now it seemed the opportunity had fallen right into his lap. The second thing was how to go about acquiring the Sycamore ranch. He had been applying pressure for some time, but he was getting tired of all that now. He needed to carry out a decisive act. The proceeds from the bank robbery, taken together with the money he had acquired from holding up the stagecoach, had given him more then enough to go ahead and make an offer. But, quite apart from the fact that Jowett, the owner, would never accept a bid, that just wasn’t the way he operated.

‘What do you think?’ he said, addressing the lizard which as usual was biting at his glove. ‘Which one of the stinkin’ coyotes do we deal with first? Calvin or Jowett?’ He looked away, thinking, and then burst into a wild laugh.

‘I think Calvin can wait,’ he said. ‘Don’t you agree? We wouldn’t want him to die too easily. Oh, no! That wouldn’t be fair; not after everythin’ he’s done. No, Calvin needs to suffer. When he dies, it’s goin’ to be slow and painful.’

He laughed again, and this time it developed into a wild prolonged cackle that rang round the walls of the cave. The lizard’s tongue flicked out and then it clamped its teeth into the leather glove where it hung on tenaciously as Goad shook his hand. Goad continued to laugh but then it stopped as suddenly as it had begun. He prized the Gila monster’s jaws apart and slipped it back into a pocket. For a long time he sat in silence, gently rocking backwards and forwards, and contemplating the plan he had come up with for dealing with Jowett. It was strange he hadn’t thought of it before. There were two kids living at the ranch. What could be easier or more obvious than to kidnap them? They would provide the best possible bargaining counters. Jowett would have no choice: the Sycamore ranch in exchange for their release.

Perfect. The ranch was as good as his. But he had no intention of releasing the captives.

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